A Reader’s Guide to Nathan Fletcher

Nathan Fletcher at the Voice of San Diego mayoral debate at The Birch North Park Theatre.

Partner Voices

It’s been a long 10 weeks since San Diego Mayor Bob Filner resigned. Four main candidates have emerged in the Nov. 19 special election to replace him. In the week before the big day, we’ll tell you what you need to know about them. Up first is former Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher.

Seen and Heard

The Pitch to Voters

Fletcher’s a dealmaker who can best mix San Diego’s penchant for electing moderate mayors with its growing progressive influence.

Three Big Issues

Fletcher argues his history shows he’s the best one to actually get stuff accomplished as mayor. He points to high-profile legislation he wrote, such as Chelsea’s Law, and big deals he made with Govs. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jerry Brown.

But on many issues in this race, Fletcher doesn’t have a strong position. Often, his answer is to say he wants to have a conversation about the problem. He’s focusing on jobs and the economy, public safety and streets and sidewalks.

• Jobs and the Economy

Fletcher’s jobs plan calls for 130,000 new jobs in the region over the next six years – about 26,000 more than regional planners have forecast between 2008 and 2020. He emphasizes new manufacturing jobs, which would be clustered near the border, and high-tech jobs. (Fletcher’s currently an executive at Qualcomm focusing on community outreach.)

Like the previous mayoral campaign where he finished third in the primary, much of Fletcher’s jobs plan relies on him acting as an ambassador. He wants to speak with companies already in San Diego, potential trade partners in Asia and the federal and state governments to keep businesses here or expand the city’s reach. He also wants to brand San Diego as “the world’s most innovative city.”

• Public Safety

Fletcher wants more cops on the street and more fire stations. He says he’ll add 160 new police officers and halve police attrition by 2016.

Fletcher wants to spend enough money in his first year in office to keep the city’s streets, storm drains and buildings from further deteriorating. He also wants to hire an infrastructure czar and present a plan to deal with the issue by the end of 2014. He’s open to a large, voter-approved infrastructure loan, which would include a tax increase.

In this campaign, though, the biggest issue in Fletcher’s background is his party-shifting. The 36-year-old Fletcher was a lifelong Republican until March 2012. Then in the middle of the last election, he became an independent. Then earlier this year he became a Democrat. At each step, he said made some shifts that don’t match his current positions.

“There’s no doubt that the transition from Republican to Democrat could have been done better,” Fletcher told me. “I should have done it sooner. But these are difficult things.”

Where He’s Weak

You could have a spirited debate between 2012 Nathan Fletcher and 2013 Nathan Fletcher.

Fletcher’s record suggests he probably would do big things as mayor. It’s unclear from Fletcher’s recent history exactly what those big things would be.

Top Endorsements

The city’s institutional heavyweights, including the two political parties and top business and labor groups, have shunned Fletcher’s campaign. Instead, he’s cobbled together a coalition from Democratic elected officials, such as Brown and Attorney General Kamala Harris, and smaller unions, such as the city’s white-collar, police and fire groups. You can see all of Fletcher’s endorsements here.

How He Wins

In the last campaign, Fletcher started at the bottom of a four-person field, briefly cracked the top two in the polls and then fell to third place. In this campaign, polls showed Fletcher at the top to start. In both races, Fletcher faced an onslaught of negative ads, primarily from the right. Fletcher’s always been a better runoff candidate than a primary one. He wins by holding off Democratic City Councilman Alvarez for second place and advancing to face likely first-place finisher Republican Councilman Kevin Faulconer.

Written by Liam Dillon

Liam Dillon is senior reporter and assistant editor for Voice of San Diego. He leads VOSD’s investigations and writes about how regular people interact with local government. What should he write about next? Please contact him directly at liam.dillon@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.550.5663.

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